Oh, What A World
by RaynaClaybourne
Summary: AU: What if after Maddie was born Rayna and Deacon tried to co-parent all while fighting the demons of their past. Can they reside in the same house and not fall back into old patterns or will it bring them together?
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE:** _This is just a fun different view of how I think life could have been between Rayna & Deacon had she told him she was pregnant. It wouldn't of been all rainbows and butterflies. There would be fights, tears, heartbreaks, ups and plenty of downs. I've always been a firm believer that even if she didn't want to be with him romantically anymore after she got pregnant - she could have at least told him that he was going to be a Dad and they could have co-parented with one another once he could stand on his own two feet and stay sober. _

_This has been so much fun to write with my friend! Enjoy!_

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Chapter 1

Deacon Claybourne tried hard to concentrate on what he was doing. He was playing the opening notes of Already Gone, but he kept getting distracted by the redhead standing next to him. It was everything he could to not to stare at her every time he saw her. Times like that he had to remind himself that she wasn't his anymore. That ship had sailed and because of his inability to stay sober it had gone down in flames. These days there were only two things really tying them together. Their music, they'd both come to the mature adult decision that they couldn't do what they do without each other. The main thing that tied them together forever was the thing they both lived for, their infant daughter.

When he wasn't busy trying not to stare at Rayna, he was openly staring at the little girl in her playpen on the edge of the stage. He'd make funny faces at her and she'd light up. It was his favorite thing to do. Maddie was the center of his world. He thought that he knew love, but nothing had compared to the first time his daughter was placed in his arms. She was the only person that he loved more than Rayna. It had surprised him at first, there had been a time when he'd thought he'd never love anything as much as he loved her.

He still loved Rayna to distraction, he loved her more than he could put into words. Maddie just held the number one spot in his heart now. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his little girl. She was his everything. She had saved his life and she didn't even know it. Every time he felt like he wanted to take a drink he pulled out the picture of her he kept in his wallet and looked at it. Then he would drag his ass to a meeting. He would love to say that he looked at his daughter when he wanted a drink, but that wasn't the case. He wanted a drink the worst when he wasn't with her.

He didn't have any type of custody of her. He was at Rayna's mercy when it came to seeing the little girl they'd both had a hand in making. She'd told him that he had to be sober a year before she could trust him to keep her alone at night. That deadline had came and gone six months ago and still he could count on one hand the number of times he'd kept her overnight.

He was so distracted by his daughter that it took him a split second longer than it normally would to notice that Rayna had missed her mark. He stopped playing and signaled for the band to stop as well. Deacon looked at the band and shrugged and then her looked at her with concern shining in his eyes.

Rayna stood on stage next to Deacon as he and the band played the opening notes to the next song on their set list. They were playing in Austin later that night and just had one more song to get through for sound check before they could call it a day. As she began to sing, Rayna couldn't help but shift her gaze from the empty seats in front of the stage over to where Deacon was standing playing guitar. She never let her gaze stay on his for too long before she would look away and try her hardest to refrain from locking her eyes on his yet again. The truth was she still loved him and for as much hell that they had put each other through, she still longed to make it work not just for them, but for the 11-month-old, daughter the pair shared together. The more Deacon pushed her to give him another chance, the more that Rayna pulled away - wanting to protect her heart and her daughter from all the heartache that she was certain would continue to follow if she slipped back into old patterns with Deacon. Her mind became flooded with her own thoughts of worries, hopes and dreams of what could be and what was - that she got so distracted and engulfed in her head that she lost track of the entire song and zoned out. Before she knew it she had stopped singing completely and Deacon and the rest of the guys were throwing several strange looks at her and each other.

Rayna looked down at the stage and let out a long sigh. "Sorry y'all. I think I just need a little bit of a break."

She ran her hands through her hair and put the microphone back on the mic stand and walked down the steps and over to where Maddie was playing in her play pen. The redhead leaned over and picked the small girl up and kissed her cheeks several times. She was smaller than most kids her age, with piercing baby blue eyes like her daddy with a hint of green like her mama. Her once blonde hair was now an ashy brown color with the cutest set of curls that there ever was. Rayna couldn't help but see Deacon in her every time she looked into their daughter's eyes - this beautiful little life that they had created together. A piece of their own hearts walking outside of their bodies, the love that they once shared and still had for one another created this tiny, beautiful and mighty little girl that Rayna carried in her arms on a daily basis and sung to sleep every night.

"You have been so good over here playing with your toys while mommy and daddy work." Rayna kissed her again and Maddie smiled a Deacon smile up at her.

Deacon let her take a moment to go over to their daughter before he went over and joined them.

"Oh, she's always an angel baby." He spoke as he walked up behind them and held his hands out to take Maddie from Rayna. He laid his own set of kisses on his tiny daughter's head.

Rayna watched as Deacon took Maddie from her arms and he began to shower her with affection. Eliciting a small set of giggles from Maddie. She could watch Deacon with their daughter all day and night and never get tired of it. The way that Maddie loved Deacon was enough to melt Rayna's heart. She loved the way her face lit up whenever she heard his voice or saw him. There was no denying that Maddie was a Daddy's Girl through and through whenever Deacon was around.

"You just think that because you have spoiled her rotten."

"I don't think I am the only one." Deacon looked at her and winked before he blew a raspberry on Maddie's cheek and tossed her up into the air.

Rayna tired to ignore his wink as she watched Deacon tossing their daughter up in the air, "She missed you yesterday."

"Ah, I missed her too." He sat down in a chair and played with Maddie, "Uh...maybe I could take her tonight."

Rayna looked down at the floor not even making eye contact with him. This wasn't the first time that Deacon had suggested that he take the baby for the night. Rayna always said no, and a tiny part of her always felt so bad about the fact that she would never let him take Maddie. She was nervous, scared and rightfully so. She wasn't keeping their daughter from him intentionally, but she still wanted to protect her as much as she could from even the smallest possibility that Deacon could slip up and take a drink.

"I don't know, Deacon..." She whispered lowly

Deacon shook his head, "She's my daughter too, Rayna."

Maddie's 1st Birthday was coming up in a few short weeks and Deacon could count on one hand the number of times that Rayna had let him have Maddie overnight. Many times Rayna would show up after she was already in bed and stay the night as well. Deacon always felt like she was still holding his lack of sobriety against him, even if he had been sober for the last year.

"I know. I just." She paused, "She has a routine at home. I don't want to throw it all out of whack. It's not that I don't want you to have an equal amount of time with her. I think she's too young to be bounced back and fourth like that."

"It has nothin to do with her routine and we both know it, Rayna. You like being in control and you always have. She's our daughter and I deserve to get more time with her than just during the day, a few times a week. We agreed to equal time when she was born and I've never gotten even an ounce of that." He started to get frustrated and he could feel his blood starting to boil because of the situation. He didn't want to be a part time father. He wanted to be there for everything, every bad dream, every scraped knee, all the things that Rayna was getting to experience on a daily basis.

"Deacon," She sighed and took Maddie from him and put her back in the play pen, "How many times do we have to have the conversation about arguing in front of her." She folded her arms across her chest and glanced at him. "I want you to see her, which is why I let you see her whenever you want to see her. I'm not ready for her to be away from me all night or for an entire weekend, Deacon."

Deacon stood up from the chair and paced around the green room. He was heated at the revelation that Rayna truly didn't want their daughter to be anywhere but with her. The second that Rayna told him she was pregnant and that he was going to be a daddy - he never imagined that his life would end up like this. He always envisioned that when he and Rayna had kids they would be married and if they weren't married they would at least be together. Not this limbo act that they had found themselves in for the last year and a half. Deacon never thought for a second that he would have to fight and beg her just to see his child.

"Damn it, Ray. You've basically lied to me about all of this." He paced the room and ran his hands through his hair, "If we ain't gonna be together - then I want something in writing on when I get to see her. You don't want to be away from her for the night or a weekend, but that's exactly what you're askin' me to do. I'm sick of it."

Rayna shook her head at him, "I don't want a judge telling us when the other one can and can not see our daughter. If we take this to court to have something set in stone. A judge will not be as generous as I have been and all of the things that we have been able to do won't."

"You mean that whatever this is that's going on between us won't be happening anymore." He questioned,

Rayna chewed on the inside of her bottom lip as Deacon's words struck a chord within her. Maddie had been five and a half months old when Rayna found herself in Deacon's bed again. She didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. They had both been trying to fight the urge for one another since the day she was born, until that night - when the yearning for each other was too much to take. Rayna recalled how it happened and how it kept continuing to happen even to that day. The sight of Deacon with Maddie and how hands on of a dad he was made Rayna want him more than she ever had before.

"Babe, maybe we shouldn't be doing it to begin with." She sighed,

"Or maybe we should be. We are both consentin' adults and there's no denyin' it's what we both want. This ain't 'bout that though. This is 'bout Maddie. I love that little girl so damn much, Ray, and if you ain't noticed she loves me too. You ain't the only one who had a hand in makin' her, so you don't get to keep me at arm's length. You ain't her only parent and your house ain't her only home. I have a nursery full of stuff for her that she ain't never even got to use. She is mine too not that you'd know it with her not havin' my name. I don't wanna take you to court, but I will if I have to." He ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip. He was hoping that she wouldn't see through his bravado and call his bluff.

Rayna glanced from Maddie to Deacon and back to Maddie as he went off on their current arrangement with Maddie. The tears began to well up in her eyes when Deacons started talking about how he had a hand in making her just as much as she did. Rayna only wished that he could remember that night - it was a magical night until he got drunk. She wiped her face and the tears that had begun to trickle down her cheeks. "You're lying. You won't take me court just to get overnights with her." She choked up and locked her eyes on his. A tiny part of her wanted to believe that he would never do such a thing, especially given his history with alcohol and self destructive behavior.

"You don't know what I would or wouldn't do just to get her more than what I am being given." Deacon spoke firmly,

"Is this really how you want to do this? To have us fight it out in a court room for custody and visitation. Have Maddie constantly torn between having to leave one house and go to the other? Who is that fair to, her? You? Us? Don't be selfish, Deacon. This isn't about you or me, it's about our daughter and doing what's best for her." Rayna shook her head, she never in a million years thought their relationship would bring them to this.

Deacon stood in front of her with his arms across his chest and nodded his head slowly. A guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach as he saw the tears on her face. "Exactly Rayna, it's about our daughter. Not us."

"What do you want from me, Deacon? I'm doing the very best I know how to here." Rayna sniffled.

"Basically, you're tellin' me that you want Maddie to constantly be with you. You don't ever want her to spend any time over at my house and you want me to come to your place when I wanna see her. It's bullshit, Rayna. You're keepin' her for yourself and givin' me scraps like she ain't mine too. This whole two houses thing could be solved real easy if you'd just get back together with me. It's what we both want anyway. What you want to give her is a two parent household without her other parent bein' involved more than you can control. I love you and I love her and I'm sick to death of you bein' blind to that. I'm sick of that damn Conrad trust fund punk hangin' 'round waitin' to pick up the leftovers of my family. I don't know what the fuck you want from me either." Deacon ranted.

"I don't know what to say to that." Rayna shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

Deacon picked Maddie up and perched her on his hip. "Little Bit and I are gonna be up in my hotel room. I'm keepin' her for the night don't push me on that I will push back this time. You could lose her for the way you haven't let me see her you know that? It's called alienation of parental affection. That's if I decided to take you to court. I don't wanna do that, but I can't be on the outside anymore either."

He left her standing there with a blank look on her face. She wasn't used to him standing up to her that way. She was used to him going along with whatever it was that she wanted him to do with a smile on his face.

* * *

It had been 5 hours since Deacon had left Soundcheck and went back to his hotel room with Maddie. Before Rayna could protest to his declaration that he was keeping her for the night. She had spent the better half of her afternoon and evening fuming from the situation. Deacon had never been one to push back when she told him how things were going to be. He generally went along with whatever outrageous request she was making was and that was it but this time, Rayna was actually scared that he might take her to court for some kind of overnight visitation with their daughter.

Rayna didn't want things to be the way they were between them, yet she couldn't get what Deacon said about living together and getting back together out of her head. She picked her phone up and dialed his number and pressed the phone to her ear and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I wanted to call and check on Maddie and see if maybe you and I could have a rational conversation about everything." She chewed nervously on the inside of her lip, "But I'll understand if you don't want to talk and just want to spend some alone time with her."

"She's fine, Ray. You oughta know that I ain't gonna let anything happen to her."

"I know, I still worry though, I've never not been around when she's been put down for the night."

"Do you want to come by my room to see her before I put her to bed? Then we can talk."

"I would like that very much." Rayna replied, "But I know how badly you want this time with her and we did just spend the last 2 days fighting over it."

Deacon ran his free hand through his hair and sat down on the edge of the bed in the room. He did want to stick to his guns and have the entire night alone with Maddie, but he knew deep down that Rayna wasn't going to let it go until she got to see her.

"Look, just come up and see her. We both know that you aren't gonna be able to leave it be otherwise."

"Ok, I'll be right up then."

With that Rayna hung up the phone, she grabbed her room key off of the desk and walked out of the hotel room, over to the elevator and to Deacon's floor. Within a matter of minutes she was standing outside of his hotel room. She knocked on the door and waited for him to answer.

Deacon was hoping that their talk from earlier had finally clicked with Rayna that he wasn't going to be the kind of Dad that she was letting him be. That he wanted more time, more responsibility and more of a say in his daughter's life. She was stubborn and he was too, but he knew that at some point there were going to have to put their stubbornness and feelings aside and do what was best for Maddie. Ever since he found out that Rayna was pregnant - he wanted to do the right thing, he wanted for the three of them to be a family. While he respected that she needed some time, what he didn't expect to happen was how cozy she was getting with Teddy Conrad. The very sight of the trust fund prick was enough make a sober Deacon's blood boil - seeing him with his daughter only fueled his resentment more.

Deacon opened the door and stepped aside to let Rayna in when he heard her knock. Maddie was standing by the couch playing with some toys when Rayna walked into the room.

"She seems to be as happy as a clam in here." She walked over to the small girl and picked her up and kissed her cheeks several times.

Deacon shut the door behind her and watched as Rayna instantly went to Maddie, "I told you she was alright."

She picked up a toy from the couch and handed it to Maddie and sat down with her in her lap. "You know, I've really been thinking a lot today about what you said earlier. What you've been saying for awhile now."

"I've been sayin' a lot of things, Ray"

"About how we should just be in the same house if we can't agree to any kind of visitation agreement and we're both dead set against going to court to have one put in place for us."

Deacon folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall as he looked at her. Was she finally going to take him back and stop screwing around with Conrad or was she setting him up for yet another round of disappointment. "And what is your solution to this problem."

Rayna looked from Maddie to Deacon a few times and let out a heavy sigh. She didn't want to admit that maybe just maybe Deacon was right and if they couldn't agree to any form of schedule that allowed them both an equal amount of time then the next best thing was to be together, so neither of them had to give up any sort of time. It sounded so simple. If only Rayna's head could explain it to her heart that it was the right thing to do for Maddie and for them.

"Maybe we should look into just living together - the only problem is neither my place or your place is big enough for the three of us."

"My place would be big enough to fit all of us. I bought the East Nashville house with having a family in mind. I'd love for you to move back in." Deacon sat down across from Maddie and took her little hands.

Maddie smiled and gurgled happily at her father.

"Deacon, I don't know…" Rayna hesitated

"It's what's best for all of us, Ray. You know that as well as I do." He sighed.

"I want to believe that it's what's best for all of us, but we can't just get back together because we had a baby." She sighed, "What if we do this and it doesn't work out? What if nothing truly changes. Do you really want Maddie around all of that hostility?"

Rayna sighed and looked down at the small curly brown haired girl in her lap. There was no denying that the three of them being under the same roof wouldn't be what was best for Maddie - she loved both of her parents and loved having them both around.

"Things are already different. I haven't had a drink since you told me you were pregnant. Hell, I ain't had a drink since 3 months before you told me." He let one of his hands go of Maddie's and reached for Rayna's - lacing their fingers together. "You can't tell me that this right here doesn't feel right. That the three of us being together like we are right now, doesn't feel right. I know it does, Rayna." Deacon stared meaningfully into her eyes before he added, "My two girls mean everythin' to me and what I want more than anythin' is to put my little girl to bed every night and to fall asleep beside the love of my life and wake up to her in the mornin'. We've wasted so much time and I've missed out on a lotta things with Maddie that I won't ever get back. It ain't fair to me or to her."

Rayna stared back into his eyes and gave him a half smile. "That's an awfully pretty picture that you're painting, Deacon, but we have to be realistic."

"And realistically you think that us being apart is what's best?" He looked at her hurt,

"I don't know. We have so much water under our bridge - I don't know what to do with that sometimes."

"You cross that bridge and start over on firm ground." He stated stubbornly. "You don't get to wanna give her a stable home and leave me outta it. What you're askin me for is sole custody and that I just go along with it." He snorted.

"Babe, that's not true." Rayna sighed. Even she knew it was the truth and that he did have a point.

"Then cross the bridge, Rayna. What are you so afraid of?" He questioned and pulled his hand away from hers.

Rayna looked down at the floor for a moment and thought about his question. "Everything. I'm afraid of everything."

"And I'm your knight in a rusty old pickup truck there to slay the dragons for ya. But you gotta me me in the middle. She's mine too and all you'll ever be is mine. I don't get why you won't see that." Deacon stood up and started pacing around the room.

Rayna looked down and teared up. All she had ever been since she was 16 years old was his and that was all she was ever going to be whether they were together or not. Truthfully from the moment she laid eyes on him - his was all she ever wanted to be. This little family they had was all either of them had ever wanted with one another and now that they finally had it - Rayna was too afraid to seize the opportunity out of fear from their past mishaps.

"I know I have to meet you in the middle because she isn't just mine. She's yours too. She's ours." She choked up and wiped her cheeks,

"Then meet me."

Rayna nodded her head slowly, "Maybe we should try living together. How about when we finish the tour, Maddie and I will come stay for awhile to see if it's something that will work out."

"I can live with that," Deacon replied

"Can you?" She looked up at him with a look on her face. She knew that he was agreeing to it in the moment and if Rayna knew Deacon - she knew that eventually it wasn't going to be enough for him. He was going to want more. More of a commitment from her.

"Now that, that's settled maybe you should go. I wanted to spend some time with my daughter. You have her all the time." Deacon cleared his throat. He wasn't going to let his guard down just because she'd said what he wanted to hear. He knew how Rayna's mind worked. She was perfectly capable of saying they'd stay but only staying a day or two claiming it wouldn't work out and nothing changing at all.

When Deacon spoke and told her she could leave, Rayna was surprised by him asking her to leave - considering she had just given him what it was he had been begging her for months. "Oh, Ok. I just thought." She looked down at Maddie and sighed,

"You thought what, Ray? Sometimes I don't think you trust me with her." Deacon sighed

"I thought I could take her back with me is all."

Deacon just looked at her and tears filled his eyes against his will. "I ain't never once kept her from you but that's all you try to do with me. You didn't want me involved you should't have told me."

"You know that's not true. I do want you involved." Rayna's own tears filled her eyes and began to trickle down her cheek.

"Then why have I missed so much? Why can't I keep her overnight ever?" His tears fell

"You haven't missed so much. Babe, I make sure you have just as much time with her as I do."

Deacon shook his head, "Rayna that's a lie and we both know it."

Rayna bounced Maddie in her lap and shook her head back at him, "Not entirely."

"How many times have I gotten to have her over night? How many nights have you let Conrad rock her to sleep when it shoulda been me?"

"A few times" She shrugged, keeping her eyes off of his face.

"In answer to which question, Rayna?" His face turned bright red.

"Babe..." She sighed,

"You let Teddy round her all the time and I've asked you not to. I'm her Daddy not him!" Deacon walked across the room and picked Maddie up from Rayna's lap.

"I don't let him around her all the time. He comes by sometimes to check on her and me." Rayna watched him take Maddie from her arms and she sighed. It was typical of him to always take her from her whenever they would fight, especially when it was about Teddy.

"It ain't his place 's not his, she is mine. If this is gonna work with us he has to go." He held Maddie close to his chest protectively. "Don't you get she's all I got?"

She shook her head, "That isn't true. She isn't all you've got. You have me too."

Hearing Deacon say that Maddie was all that he had stabbed Rayna in the chest. While she didn't know what was going to happen between the two of them and regardless of what did happen, she always wanted to be there for him. Not just because they shared a child together but also because she cared so deeply for him and he was her best friend.

"If that's true you'd be with me." He looked at her sadly.

"I'm not ready for that. We aren't ready for that."

"Yeah we are,"

"Why because the sex is good? Maybe even better than it has been these last few years?"

Deacon shook his head, " Cause you're the love of my life that's why."

Rayna looked down at her hands and cried silently. She loved him, she did. But the idea of them being together and it not working out terrified her - because she so badly wanted to find a way to make it work for Maddie's sake.

"You don't give a damn bout that though. You just wanna see the worst in me. I'm sick of everyone actin like I ain't good enough to be her daddy. I mean it Rayna, this keeps up and I'm goin to court to keep her away from that toxic bullshit from your sister, your daddy and your little trust fun wanna be boyfriend."

Rayna bit the inside of her lip and got up from the couch. "I'm not going to sit her and have the same conversation with you anymore. Bring her back in the morning as soon as she wakes up."

"No I will bring her back once we've spent some more time together. You have her all the time. She loves me Ray, Can't you see how she lights up when she sees me? I swear you just wanna keep her to yourself."

"I don't want to keep her to myself, Deacon - but i'm her mama and you put us in this situation."

"No, you don't get to blame me. You wanna be the center of her damn world and only want her to want you. You're getting your wish cause she clings to you and I don't think she's even said dada yet."

"Right, I'm the bitch who did this on purpose to have you tied to me forever." Rayna took Maddie from Deacon and kissed her head and hugged her tight.

"She ain't a pawn. She is ours and I want her to have both of us. She needs us both. It ain't you I wanna keep her from." Deacon stepped toward Rayna and looped his arm around her waist and pulled her body as flesh against his as he could and kissed her.

"No, she isn't a pawn and this didn't happen on purpose. We didn't plan it but we weren't exactly preventing it either." Rayna tried to pull away from him slightly as he pulled her body to his and pressed his lips against hers. "Deac, we shouldn't. She mumbled against his lips.

"I want you and I want our daughter. I want our family, fuck this we should or shouldn't."

Rayna bit her bottom lip and looked down. "I want that too."

"I love you two more than life, baby."

Rayna began to tear up again, "I know you do."

Deacon rubbed the small of her back with his hand and locked his eyes on hers. "Then stop fighting with me and help me fight for us."

Rayna nodded her head.

"I love you very much but I have a date tonight and you have to go."

"I don't want her around other women."

Deacon smirked at her, "She's my date."

"Oh." She nodded and kissed and hugged Maddie again, "Be good for Daddy. I love you so, so much and will see you in the morning." Maddie grinned at her mother and babbled happily.

Deacon watched the two of them interact with each other and once Rayna was finished saying her goodbyes to their daughter, he pulled her to him again and kissed her. Rayna didn't pull back when he pulled her body back against his and pressed his lips back to hers in a hungry kiss.

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 **A/N:** _Thanks so much for reading! Please follow along by reviewing and clicking the follow button. I am hoping to update weekly. ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks so much for all of the kind reviews. I'm sorry that it has taken this long to get the update to you guys. Life has been crazy. Enjoy Chapter 2, it's a personal fave. :) Reviews are appreciated._

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Chapter 2

With the first leg of the tour behind them and Rayna and Deacon were trying their best from that fateful night in Austin to be civil with one another and to truly try and make things work for the sake of Maddie. Rayna was half sure that moving in was best for them and she was half sure that it was going to be a complete catastrophe all at the same time. Things were never simple when it came to her and Deacon. They hadn't really discussed it in depth since they'd been home. It was a conversation that they were going to have to have sooner or later. She always said that he was the impulsive one, but she decided to do something to take the suspense out of the situation.

Deacon sat on his couch at home alone. He had his tv on for background noise but he wasn't really paying attention to it. They had only been back in Nashville for two days and already he missed seeing his daughter every hour like he'd grown accustomed to while on the road. He got up from the couch when he heard a knock on the door. It was probably just the pizza he'd order. Some pubescent delivery boy however, wasn't who was on the other side. A shocked Deacon opened the door to find Rayna standing on the front porch that used to belong to the two of them with a toothbrush in one hand and pulling her suitcase with the other.

"Go get your baby out of the car, I have to go put this away."

Rayna breezed into the house and towards the master bedroom while a still shocked Deacon stood in the doorway of the house. She put her toothbrush in the holder on the bathroom counter on her way back from the bedroom. Deacon hadn't moved an inch.

"Are you gonna stand there or are you going to go get your baby?"

Deacon knocked the cobwebs out of his head and smiled widely, "I'm gonna go get my baby." He rushed outside and brought Maddie back into the house.

Rayna smirked as she watched Deacon rush outside and bring Maddie in. Maddie was smiling and babbling happily at her father their entire way back inside.

"Tell Daddy what else happened. I wanna hear all 'bout your two days without me." Deacon sat down on the couch with her.

Rayna sat down in the chair across from the couch and smiled as she watched the two of them interact with one another. Maddie continued to grin and just talk her little head off to Deacon as if he could understand everything that came out of her mouth except for the words 'Mama, Dada and yay.'

Deacon bounced her on his knee. "Can Daddy give you a treat or have you not had dinner yet?"

"She hasn't had dinner yet but I don't see why one small and I do mean small treat would be a problem. I don't want her to be one of those kids who snacks all the time and won't ever eat at actual meal times." Rayna leaned back in the chair and rubbed her temples.

Deacon nodded and grabbed a baby cookie for Maddie. "How's a cookie?" He handed the cookie to Maddie and she instantly took it from him and shoved half of it into her mouth. "Hey you. Chew, chew, chew." Deacon spoke and eased the cookie away from her mouth.

Maddie fussed as her father pulled her hands away from the cookie that was in her mouth. She shook her head and looked down at the cookie before back up to Deacon - and held the half ate cookie up to his lips. Deacon opened his mouth and let her feed him the cookie causing a wide smile and loud laugh to come from the tiny tot.

"Thank you, that's yummy." Deacon smiled at her and kissed the side of her head.

Rayna watched them closely and wondered if things were always like that when she let Deacon have Maddie for the day or a few hours in the evening. There was no denying that Maddie loved her daddy and that her daddy loved her. The redhead had always known that Deacon would make an outstanding father and she hated herself for all the time she had neglected him of having with their daughter. It wasn't until that night in Austin that reality had finally clicked with Rayna that Deacon wasn't just going to let her make all the decisions and rules regarding their daughter. She was a product of both of their actions that November night at the cabin.

Rayna smiled as she watched them take turns taking bite after bite of the cookie. "Alright, it's getting late. Little Miss needs to eat dinner, take her bath and go to bed."

"I can offer her pancakes or I did order a pizza. We usually do bath, story, bed when she stays."

"She can have pizza."

"She does love pizza"

"I can't imagine who she gets that from." Rayna teased

Deacon laughed, "I love pizza. I'd eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could."

"I have no doubt that she's probably going to be the exact same way. You'll eat cold pizza for breakfast." Rayna shook her head, "I only craved it for half of my pregnancy and it was always with the weirdest combination of toppings."

"Pepperoni, mushrooms, and peppers." Deacon recalled and made a face.

"That one was terrible."

Deacon nodded his head and asked the question that had been in the back of his mind since Rayna knocked on his door with a suitcase in hand. "I uhhh, Ray, I gotta ask."

"Ask me what?"

"The suitcase. Is it just for the night, a few days or did you really mean what you said back in Texas?"

"I meant it. I just packed stuff for a week. Figured if you still wanted to try this whole being under the same roof for her out then I could always go back for the rest of my things."

Deacon stood up from the couch with Maddie in his arm and walked over to the chair across from him and bent down and kissed Rayna.

Rayna smiled against his lips, "What was that for?"

"For finally not being so damn stubborn and coming to your senses and coming back home."

Rayna rolled her eyes slightly at him and smirked, "Can I steal a dresser drawer in that case?"

"Yes, you can. You're welcome to it. It's yours anyway. I couldn't bring myself to put myself in it after you moved yours out." He admitted.

Rayna stood up from the chair and kissed him again. "Thanks babe." She pecked his lips one more time before walking off to the bedroom to unpack her suitcase and put it away.

Deacon smirked at Maddie, "You see there, Maddie May if you want somethin you just gotta ask."

Maddie nodded her head a few times at him and giggled.

"I got your momma to move in with me. Yes, I did." He cooed and twirled her around.

Maddie grinned, "MAMA!"

"I love your momma and I wanna marry her." Deacon confessed to his 11-month-old daughter. "Now we just need that horrible, awful ole Teddy to go away."

Maddie looked at him confused and wiggled around in his arms to get down. Whenever Deacon got any sort of time with Maddie he was always spilling his thoughts and feelings regarding Rayna to the little girl. While he knew that she didn't fully understand anything that he was saying - He never wanted Maddie to feel like he didn't try to fight for Rayna or for the three of them to be a family. He so desperately wanted his daughter to know that she was conceived out of love and was so wanted by both of her parents.

He sat Maddie down on the floor and she immediately crawled away to her toys and began playing with them. "Well you remember where Daddy keeps the toys." Part of him worried that she wasn't with him here enough to feel at ease or remember that this was her home too. He got down on the floor with her and began playing with her. Whenever he spent any kind of time with her, he always tried to get down on her level when he interacted with her.

Deacon grabbed her stuffed penguin and made it kiss her. "Aw Mister Penguin loves Maddie." Deacon turned the stuffed animal around to look at him, "What's his name? Uh, did we name him patch cause of his wild hair?" Maddie grinned up at him and reached up for the animal in his hands. "Yes, it is, my little princess. His name is Patch."

Rayna finished unpacking her things and a few of Maddie's things in the nursery when she came back out into the living room she saw the two of them sitting on the floor playing with stuffed animals. Maddie was clutching a penguin tightly to her chest as Deacon rummaged through the basket of toys until he pulled out a flamingo.

"Is this daddy's flamingo?" Deacon made the bird dance.

"Dada's!" Maddie jumped up and down and pushed the flamingo to Deacon's chest, exactly like her penguin was on her chest.

Rayna was about to speak up and make her presence in the room known when there was a knock at the door.

"Ah, that must be our pizza." Deacon got up from the floor and held his hand out to Maddie. "Let's go see if our dinner is here." Maddie stood up and ran to the front door, stood on her tippy toes and tried to open the front door. Deacon went to the door with her. "Slow down, you're walkin so good." He opened the door, paid the delivery boy and brought the pizza into the house. "Daddy has pizza."

"IZZA. IZZA. IZZA." Maddie shouted and ran over to Rayna on the couch.

Rayna smiled down at her and picked her up. "Did your daddy get you pizza for dinner?"

"Daddy did." Deacon smiled and sat the pizza box on the coffee table and sat on the couch next to them.

Maddie clapped her hands and bounced up and down excitedly. Neither of her parents had lied when they said how much she loved pizza.

Deacon took a piece out of the box and held it up to her. "Maddie get bite."

Maddie didn't hesitate to take a big bite.

Deacon took a bite too. "Chew like daddy." He demonstrated for her what she needed to do. He'd done the same thing when she was trying to learn to crawl he'd gotten down on the floor and showed her how.

Maddie watched his and mimicked his movements with her mouth.

"Swallow," after she'd done so he offered her another bite.

Maddie ate the pizza and danced around the living room in between going back to her daddy for another bite.

Rayna watched them. "Look at how happy she is right now."

Deacon took a second piece of pizza out of the box and started eating it. "She is so, so happy. I still can't believe we got an advanced baby. Not even a year old and walkin' like a champ. Eats like one too."

"Well, her doctor did say that she was smarter than most kids her age. She really is a little sponge. Everything we say or do she repeats or mimics." She ate her own pizza and wiped the side of Maddie's mouth. She reached over and wiped Deacon's mouth two. Those two really did eat just alike.

Deacon chuckled. "I remember. And I mean we do kinda raise her with her own band, so she was bound to be smart." He gave Maddie another bite. "She only eats for me if I feed her real bites and don't cut it up."

Rayna watched as Deacon continued to feed Maddie bite after bite of pizza. She loved the kind of dad he was and felt so awful that she had denied him more moments like this with their daughter. "She has you wrapped around her little fingers, but she has to feed herself."

Deacon smiled at his daughter adoringly. "She can feed herself. She just likes to take daddy size bites."

Rayna got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to get them all something to drink. She walked back to the living room and handed Maddie a sippy cup of water. She looked at Deacon and nodded her head slightly. "Like I said, daddy has her spoiled."

Deacon let that comment pass he couldn't deny it. "Maddie, daddy loves you, but you drool all over my food."

Maddie looked at him and frowned slightly. She walked over to Rayna and tied to climb into her lap.

Rayna picked her up and sat her on the couch next to her and handed her a plate of cut up pizza. "Here, let your daddy eat his pizza, sweet girl."

"Look, Maddie, momma cut up your pizza for you." Deacon smiled at the cute little pout on his daughter's face. She was strong willed and liked things her way. She wanted to eat the whole piece and not have it cut up.

Maddie finally sat there and ate her own pizza.

"I love that little girl so much. I'm so happy you're both home."

"We need to talk about some stuff once she goes down for the night." Rayna burst his bubble.

Deacon's smile faltered. "Oh…you're not home?"

"No, we are, but you and I just need to talk." She told him.

His smile returned. "I love you both."

Rayna looked at him and then down at Maddie sitting on the couch next to her. "I know you do."

Deacon continued to eat in silence more than a little disappointed that she hadn't said it back.

She took notice in the look on his face as he ate and the awkward silence that had fallen between them. She sighed as she looked over at Maddie who had successfully finished all but two pieces of her pizza. The small girl sat there in a daze as she put bite after bite into her mouth.

"She eats like her daddy." Deacon observed.

"Sometimes I wonder if she even chews her food." Rayna wiped Maddie's face again and put the empty plate on the coffee table and helped her down off the couch.

Maddie scurried across the living room and began to play with her blocks.

"Hard to believe she'll be one in a few weeks."

"She got big way too fast." Deacon watched her. "And I don't think she chews either."

"Kinda makes me wish she was still that tiny little thing that stayed curled up on our chests."

"Me too. She still does it when she's tired. She lays on my chest with that little ass poked up in the air and that tiny hand tucked under her chin."

Rayna watched Maddie in the corner of the room as she stacked her blocks up and knocked them down over and over again. She would have been lying if she said that she didn't miss when her daughter was completely dependent on her. The second she could do things on her own she had proven to be as independent and strong willed as her mother. If the last eleven months were any indication of what was to follow in the coming years they were screwed once she was in her pre-teen and teenage years.

"Sometimes I swear she only does it with me because she wants the boob still."

"I don't blame her you have good boobs." Deacon finished eating and went over to play with his little girl.

"You would say that." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She got up and cleaned up from their pizza date.

Deacon grabbed his guitar and started playing for his daughter. "Dancin' in the livin' room cuttin' up a rug dancin' with a baby looks more like a hug." He loved making up songs for her. "You love this one, Maddie, sing it with me."

Maddie danced as he played and sang to her, she babbled happily.

"Come on baby, baby let's go. Where we get the money honey I don't know. One more baby's alright by me. We'll just add another limb to the family tree." He sang to her. "Look at those moves on you."

"Baby, baby," Maddie repeated.

"I've got me a singer." Deacon grinned. "Baby, let's go" He drew out the syllables.

Maddie watched him closely.

Rayna laughed at the two of them and walked over and sat down next to Deacon. She picked Maddie up and sat her on her lap.

"Baby! Mama!"

"Maddie's daddy's baby." He made silly faces at her.

Maddie let out an electric laugh and laid her head on Rayna's chest and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"Ready for a bath with daddy?"

"No, no." Maddie shook her head and hid her face from him in Rayna's chest. For as much as she loved Deacon, Maddie was a mama's girl through and through.

"Sweet girl. You have to take a bath it's getting late. You wanna do shower time with Daddy or Mama?" Rayna looked down at her tickled her sides slightly.

Deacon watched and frowned a little as Maddie clung to Rayna and buried her face in the redhead's chest. "Daddy has tugboats and rubber duckies."

Maddie lifted her head and looked at him. "Duckies?" She asked curiously,

"Uh-oh." Rayna looked at her and smiled, "Daddy has duckies. You wanna go play with them?"

The small girl giggled and nodded her head at her parents. Rayna smiled at her and got up from the couch and walked down the hall to the bathroom with her, while Deacon trailed not too far behind the two of them. She got the tub ready for Maddie's bath and undressed her while she waited for the tub to fill up a little.

Deacon leaned against the doorframe and watched them. "Want a bath with daddy?"

Maddie nodded her head and reached for Deacon's hand. Deacon stripped down and took Maddie into his arms and got in the tub with her.

"I'm gonna go get her stuff ready for bed." Rayna spoke

Deacon grabbed some of Maddie's toys while she splashed the water in the tub and laughed loudly.

"Alright babe. We will be here." Deacon splashed with her and washed her while she was distracted with the water and toys. "Does Maddie wanna wash daddy?"

Maddie shook her head and pushed one of her boats around the tub with a duck in it.

"That's ok, you don't have to. No you don't. Daddy loves his pretty girl." He kissed her cheek

Maddie blushed and flashed him a smile just like her mother's. He wet her hair and gently washed it. She'd always loved for him to wash her hair. "I think we are ready for a diaper and jammies. Say momma! Come get me!"

Maddie rubbed her eyes sleepily again, "MAMA!" She shouted for Rayna.

Deacon got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his was it and grabbed Maddie's towel. He picked her up and wrapped her in it. "Ray!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Rayna called out as she walked back into the bathroom and held her hands out to Maddie - taking note of how tired her little eyes were." Oh, my goodness. You are just a sleepy little babe." She held her close and kissed her head gently.

"Let me get some clothes on really fast. she always get a book in the big bed with me before sleepy time."

Rayna nodded her head at him as she walked back out of the bathroom. "I'm gonna change her in there then." She walked into the bedroom and laid Maddie down on the bed, dried her off and got her ready for bed. "You smell like a sweet, sweet piece of pie now, little miss." Rayna cooed at her.

Deacon put on a T-shirt and boxers. He picked up a book and crawled into the bed. "Come to daddy. I know this book is a little babyish even for you but it's been awhile since Daddy had you all night…"

Maddie rubbed her eyes and pointed at the bedroom door. "Paci.." She whined.

Rayna handed her blanket to her and grabbed a paci off of the dresser that she had brought into the bedroom earlier and handed it to Maddie as well. Maddie took them both and crawled over to Deacon and cuddled up to him. Deacon handed her a stuffed alligator for whatever reason it was her favorite and he started reading to her. Maddie hugged the stuffed animal tightly to her chest and leaned her little head against Deacon's chest as he read to her. Rayna sat on the opposite side of the bed and leaned against the headboard, she watched the two of them and her heart filled with such pride and love. She loved everything about the kind of Dad that Deacon was. She could watch him interact with Maddie all day, every day for the rest of her life and would never not be in awe of the kind of man that he was and all the ways that he loved his daughter. And her.

Deacon read until he could detect the change in Maddie's breathing that told him she was asleep. He looked up at Rayna and he wished things could aways be this way. No matter how many times she said she was back and she was willing to try and make things work for the sake of Maddie. Deacon was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to change her mind and leave hime. Again. They had already tried the whole living together and co-parenting with each other when Maddie was a few months old and it had only lasted for about a month before they had huge fight and she packed her bags and left.

Rayna leaned up off of the headboard when Deacon stopped reading and looked up at her. She picked Maddie up from the bed and carried her across the hall and laid her down in her crib. Making sure to cover her up and turn the sound machine that Deacon's mother, June had gifted them when Rayna was pregnant. She kissed the top of her head before she walked out of the nursery and back to Deacon's room.

"She always falls asleep before I finish."

Rayna shrugged, "She won't always be like that. There will come a time when we have to read more than half of a book before she falls asleep." She paused and looked down, "I think she really enjoyed tonight. She loves being with you."

"I know I really enjoyed tonight. I've missed so much with her Ray."

"I know and I'm here trying to make it better, aren't I?"

Deacon nodded, "Yeah you are." He paused, "What did you wanna talk bout?"

"Just how this is going to work? Are we going to try to co-parent in the same house like we did after she was born?"

"I said I wanted my family not just my daughter. I want you too."

"Deacon…"

"Don't Ray, you know what I want. You can't act like you don't know it when I've been telling ya that I want our family ever since before she was born. I love you. I want to be with you."

Rayna sighed and chewed on the inside of her bottom lip. "You act like I don't want that too. It's just. We've tried that once before and it didn't work out and I don't want to be in this constant back and fourth pattern with her. If we're going to try this again, then we're trying it and we have to make it work. Otherwise, we shouldn't try at all and we truly need to find some happy medium with visitation. So, if this isn't what you want tell me now. But if you do wanna try me and you again, then I need you to be all in."

"Of course I do. I know I screwed up. I know that but it was never a matter of I don't love you. This last year has been hell. I want you Rayna but I want Teddy completely gone, I need that. I won't have him waitin round for me to mess up to swoop in to steal my family."

"I want that too but I'm scared and no matter how many times we both say that we want it, that doesn't change the fact that it may not work out and things will be the same as they always have been since Vince died. I don't want that for our daughter or for us."

Deacon shook his head, "Things ain't the same anymore. Trust me one more time."

"I know they aren't the same anymore. My heart knows it. I just can't find the way to tell it my head." She looked down and sighed, "I wanna do right by you and this little family we have."

"Maddie won't have the story I had. I'd walk before I let that happen. That little girl saved me. So please, Ray. I'm beggin you've never been done with me, so please don't be now. Please get rid of Teddy."

Rayna teared up and nodded her head slightly, Teddy Conrad had never been her ideal choice in a boyfriend let alone someone to raise a family with. She had only entertained the idea of dating him casually the last time Rayna had sent Deacon to rehab. Tandy had set her up with Teddy, told he he was the opposite of their Father and Deacon - but even nearly 2 years into it the relationship lacked a certain spark that Rayna had only ever felt with Deacon. "Ok, I'll do it."

"Yeah? You're in?" Deacon's voice cracked

"Yeah. I am." She responded

"Ray, you ain't gotta say anythin now and I know it's all mixed up but it's been a long time comin. It's been 12 years and I wanna be your husband."

Rayna looked up at him shocked and confused. Unsure if she had heard him correctly - they had talked about getting married one day but that had been before Maddie was born and before all of the countless heartbreaks and disappointments. "What?" She stuttered

Deacon reached into his nightstand and took a ring out. "I want you to marry me. I bought you a ring before but I was still drinkin then and I lost it. But this is the best I can do. I ain't rich but I love you."

Rayna watched as Deacon pulled a ring out of his nightstand and began to talk. She was slightly disappointed that he still didn't remember the night he proposed to her and the night that Maddie was conceived. She never hesitated that night and she sure as hell wasn't about to hesitate and say no this time around. His wife was all she had ever wanted to be. "Yes," She teared up and nodded her head,

"Yes? Really? You're sayin yes?" Deacon smiled

"Yeah, I'll marry you.." She smiled backed at him,

Deacon dropped down to his knee, "Let me ask right,"

"Wait." She pulled away from him and walked to the dresser and pulled a black velvet bag out of the drawer and handed it to him. "Or maybe you could use this one."

Deacon took the bag from Rayna and opened it, "I gave it to you. I didn't lose it. I gave it to you."

He took the ring out and twirled it in his fingers as he thought about when he could have possibly given the ring to Rayna - the exact moment smacked him in the gut like a ton of bricks. It was the week before Thanksgiving, they were at his cabin. He didn't want her to see or talk to Teddy anymore. So during a bender he proposed and she had said yes. The exact conversation was a little hazy still, but looking at the ring that she had just pulled out of the dresser drawer she used to call hers way back when - it all slowly began to come back to him. Sobriety sure did have a way of making you see things a lot clearer. Even if they were from nearly two years ago. Deacon looked up at Rayna who had tears in her eyes as she watched him holding the ring in between his fingers and examine it. She could tell that his mind was replaying every single moment in their life from the time that he had purchased that ring and the night in November that he had given it to her - only to have her throw it at him the next morning when she woke up and found him passed out on the couch with a nearly empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table.

"You kept this?" Deacon stammered,

Rayna nodded her head, "Of course I kept it. I meant what I said that night, Deacon. I did want to marry you and be your wife - but I couldn't do that while you were still drinking and I really couldn't do it after you first got sober and that baby sleeping across the hall is why."

Deacon took the ring and slipped it on her finger. "Will you marry me, Rayna? You make me a better man and a better person and I want to spend the rest of my days waking up and going to sleep next to you every day. You've stood by me in good times and in bad. You love me more than I deserve. Please, make me the happiest man on the earth and be my wife."

The tears that Rayna had been holding back began to fall as Deacon spoke as she slid the ring on her finger, before she answered him properly - but they both already knew the answer to his question. "Deac, you're wife is all I have ever wanted to be. Of course, I'll marry you."

Deacon stood up and kissed her deeply. "I promise to spend the rest of my life making up for those five years where I was a really bad drunk." He murmured in between kisses.

"I trust you." She whispered against his lips

"And I trust you with my life."

Rayna wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him, "I love you so much." She toyed with the hair on the back of his neck and locked her eyes on his.

"I love you too and for the first time in a long time, I can clearly see this big life we are gonna have together."

Rayna smiled at him and walked back towards the bed and crawled into it, pulling him down with her. "We're gonna live this big beautiful life together and do all of the things we've been talking about for years. It's me, you, Maddie and all of the future babies we are gonna have."

Deacon chuckled and laid down in the bed, "We can have as many as you want. I just want one son." He laced his fingers with hers and laid on his side facing her.

"One of each maybe two of each."

"I say two of each.." Deacon pulled her close to him, "I'm so glad you're home" He nuzzled her neck,

"It feels real good to be home. To be in this bed, with you and in your arms. You don't know how much I have missed this. It just wasn't the same when we would hook up ever so often after she was born."

"Me and the bed have both missed you." Deacon sighed against her neck, "No, it wasn't the same because I knew when the sun came up the next morning you'd be leaving my bed if you hadn't already. I know this ain't protocol when you get engaged but just for the first time ever, I want our baby between us tonight. We have our whole lives to make love."

Rayna cupped his face and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "You don't want to?"

"I always want to. You don't know how badly I am trying to hold myself back right now." Deacon leaned closer and kissed her,

"Then don't hold yourself back," Rayna smirked at him playfully,

Deacon took in the playful tone in her voice and the sultry look on her face as she spoke. It didn't take much for him to cave in and pull her body flesh against his. His hands slipping down her side slowly, "We can have it all. I'm gonna make love to you then get our baby." He kissed her passionately and rolled her onto her back.

Two rounds of love making later, Rayna fell back against the mattress panting heavily as her body tangled in a sweaty mess with Deacon's body. They both laid there breathless and still high from the intensity of the passion. Deacon pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head softly as Rayna rolled onto her side and looked at him with a lazy post sex smile on her face that drove him wild each time he saw it.

"What kinda weddin do you want?" He asked

Rayna shrugged, "I know where I wanna get married but I think something quiet and intimate just for us, close family and friends is what we should do."

"Where do you wanna get married?"

"On the lake front property that my mom left to me and Tandy."

"Perfect. Um, so my best man ain't here so I was thinking about maybe Riff or Luke." Deacon drew small circles on her back

Rayna cringed when his two potential best man choices came out of Deacon's mouth. She liked Riff and she liked Luke - but she didn't like all of the partying that they both did. They hadn't been the best of influences on Deacon and only fueled his drinking more with the help of Vince.

"I thought you weren't friends with them anymore."

"I'm not really. I had to get well, but we all three go way back."

"I like them and it is your choice but I want you to be sure. I know how they are, especially when they are drinking and I don't want something to happen that will make you slip." She paused, "Plus, I haven't seen Luke since the night you got into it with him over me."

He shook his head and sighed, "You're right. Bucky, I want Bucky."

"Smart choice."

"He deserves it."

"Or Coleman. I think that would be a smart choice as well."

Deacon let out a long sigh, "Yeah, but I'm pretty pissed about the fact that he told you to give up n me. That wasn't his place."

"He didn't." She paused, "He didn't tell me to give up on you and we both wanted you to get better, babe. So I took a step back."

"It wasn't ok. Cause of him I wasn't the first person to know you were pregnant. I shoulda been."

"I know but I told you. We tired to make it work and now look at us. We're getting married." She smiled

"We are gettin married." Deacon smiled widely and kissed the top of her head. "I'm gonna go get our baby." He slipped out of the bed and put his boxers on. "Help yourself to a T-shirt and I hope you brought back the ones you stole." He winked and went to get Maddie.

Rayna sat up in the bed and bit the corner of her lip and grabbed Deacon's shirt from the bedroom floor and slipped it on and she laid back down in the bed. She watched as Deacon carefully carried Maddie in and laid her down at ease without a peep from the little girl.

"I'm real good at not wakin her. I do a flawless car seat to crib transfer." He slipped into bed and whispered lowly.

"I'm impressed. I do a terrible transfer to the crib. Especially, when she falls asleep on my chest."

"I think it's cause I hold her like she's fragile."

Rayna smirked and looked down at her daughter sleeping peacefully in between her and Deacon. Maddie had her little hand resting on top of her forehead slightly, just the way Deacon sometimes slept. "I'm convinced she just knows that she ins't touching me anymore. I blame the fact that she was breastfed and I only rocked and sang her to sleep. I never let her put herself to sleep."

"She normally sleeps here."

"With you?'

Deacon nodded "She doesn't stay often so I let her sleep with me."

"That doesn't surprise me. I've been oddly really good about not co-sleeping, but I will admit sometimes I let her sleep with me too. Mostly when I want to feel close to you."

Deacon patted his daughter. "I want another baby, Ray."

"We will when the time is right."

"This one has grown way too fast. I missed so much with her."

Rayna nodded in agreement with Deacon. Maddie had grown way too fast for Rayna's liking. Everyone always told her that the first year goes by so fast and it was true. She felt like she had blinked and Maddie was about to turn one in just a few short weeks. "She has grown fast."

"She's the best thing I ever done." Deacon watched her sleep,

Rayna smiled, "She's definitely the best thing we've done together. We may not always get things right with each other, but with her we do. We at least try our damnedest to do the right thing."

Deacon stroked her hair, "She's my sunshine that's for sure. Thank you for giving her to me."

"I didn't do it on my own. You helped give her to us just as much as I did." Rayna paused, she kept watching Deacon and the way that he watched Maddie sleep. "When do you want another?"

"I don't know. I want time to enjoy her and let her have some time with us."

Rayna nodded her head slightly as she let Deacon's word sink in they had always talked about how many kids that they wanted. Deacon was harder to convince to have one than Rayna was. Partially because of his own upbringing and partially because Rayna was almost certain that he was afraid. As the years went on and his drinking got increasingly worse, she didn't think they would ever even have one let alone the three that they always talked about having. Two boys and one girl, he would always say. Rayna always protested and wanted to compromise with one of each but then she got pregnant and after weeks of telling herself that it was probably just another scare and her period was just late because of all of the stress with Deacon's inability to stay sober. When the morning sickness arrived and didn't go away - she knew. She knew that it was much more than a scare and she was in fact pregnant. It wasn't until this conversation with Deacon that she was seeing the possibility of another one.

"I honestly haven't even thought about having more. Not like what we used to talk about, I'm definitely enjoying her and giving her my entire attention." She shrugged at him.

"Maybe next year." Deacon replied

"Next year? We would have to start trying this year and I just think that is a recipe for disaster with the tour, planning a wedding and trying to get pregnant."

Deacon chuckled, "No, we should maybe start trying next year when she's two."

"Oh," she laughed at herself, "I think waiting until she's two is a good idea. It gives her two whole years with us. So, I'll stay on the pill until then."

Deacon reached his hand across Maddie's little sleeping body and reached for Rayna's hand. "Until then we have all the time in the world to practice." He winked, "Get some sleep. We had a big day." He held her and Maddie.

"I love you," Rayna whispered and yawned lowly

"I love you too, Ray."

Deacon watched as Rayna closed her eyes and within minutes he could see the shift in her breathing change and he knew she was asleep. He watched both of the two most important women in his life sleep in his arms before he too drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Rayna was woke up to Maddie playing with her hair and kicking her feet lightly as Deacon tickled her foot causing the small child to giggle and kick her feet more. For the first time in months, Rayna was surprised to find that Maddie had successfully slept through the entire night again. When they were home she usually slept so well in her crib but some nights were a struggle where she woke up in the middle of the night and wanted in bed with Rayna. Rayna in her exhausted state would cave and just let her sleep with her just so she could get some more sleep. Rayna stirred and stretched in the bed.

"You ready for a diaper change?" Deacon smiled at Maddie and pulled her across his legs as he grabbed a diaper off the nightstand. "Time for a clean diaper." He smiled down at her and changed her. Maddie babbled happily and kicked her legs and looked up at him. Deacon finished up, "All clean" He picked her up and kissed both of her cheeks.

Rayna sat up in the bed, "What do you two want for breakfast?"

"We can do somethin easy."

"Pancakes?" She asked and got out of bed,

"Sounds good." Deacon got up and put Maddie on the ground. "She likes her toys."

"She plays so well by herself too." Rayna slipped a pair of shorts on with the shirt of Deacon's she had slept in.

"She really does. If she's with me I play with her the whole time."

"I try and play with her a lot of the time but sometimes I am working and can't."

"I know that wasn't a knock on you. I love the way she lights up durin sound check when the music starts like she knows it's my guitar playin."

"Oh, she knows. She's known since I was pregnant. She used to go absolutely crazy during sound check."

"She knows my guitar playin from everyone else's?" Deacon asked as they walked out of the bedroom with Maddie and out into the kitchen and living room.

Rayna nodded her head

"I like to think so. She loves to have her fingers on the strings." Deacon beamed

"Maybe you can teach her and she'll be better than I am."

"She's been gettin lessons since the womb."

"Then she should be a pro by the age of 5."

Deacon kissed her cheek, " I figure we will go for 4. She's a prodigy. I love you but you're horrible at guitar."

Rayna laughed and shook her head at him. The fact that Deacon had so desperately tried numerous times to teach her how to play guitar and Rayna had failed miserably. It wasn't that he wasn't a good teacher, he was. Rayna hadn't of ever been any good with knowing what to do with her hands when it came to guitars. He hadn't been the first person who tried to teach her but he was definitely the best. She wasn't surprised that he was dead set on teaching Maddie and having her perfect it at such a young age. Rayna could only hope that their daughter took after Deacon when it came to guitar skills.

"Hey! I tried and I don't have to be any good. I have you."

"And I am damn good."

"In more ways than one." She smirked and winked at him as she grabbed everything out of the cabinets and pantry to make their first breakfast as a family of 3.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you guys all so much for all of the sweet reviews! I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. Life has been a little crazy for me. I will try to do better. In the meantime, enjoy and please review. :)_

Chapter 3

Things between Rayna and Deacon continued to get increasingly better. They were settling into a good routine of a work/life balance and making sure that they had plenty of family time and alone time once Maddie was down for the night. Rayna was rather pleased at how well things were going and how easily they had fallen back into healthy patterns. Most nights they would lay in bed and talk about wedding plans or Maddie's first birthday party. Rayna had yet to call things off officially with Teddy. She knew that she needed to rip the bandaid off and just end things. It should've been that simple but Rayna was still nervous that things with Deacon would turn bad, again. One day while Deacon was at his AA meeting, Rayna decided that it was time to end things with Teddy. She knew that she couldn't do it over the phone and she needed to be a decent person and have the conversation with him face to face.

Deacon came home early from his meeting to find a strange car parked in front of his house. He didn't think anything of it until he stepped up on the porch. His face turned crimson red when he saw Teddy Conrad sitting on his couch holding his daughter with his arm around his fiancé. Deacon took a deep breath to collect himself before he walked into his house.

"Why is he here, Rayna?" He stormed in the front door and walked across the living room and picked Maddie up from Teddy's lap.

Rayna was lost in watching Teddy playing with Maddie when the front door opened and slammed a few seconds later. "Deacon." She pulled away from Teddy and jumped up from the couch and looked at him, "What are you doing home so early?"

"It doesn't fuckin matter what I'm doin here. I belong here. He doesn't." He glared at Teddy,

"Um..we were just talking." Rayna stammered, "And he wanted to see Maddie."

Teddy stood up and looked at Rayna, "Maybe I should go."

"I don't care he's not welcome here, ever." Deacon saw red and wheeled around on Teddy. "Don't ever come here again. This is my family. This is my daughter and my fiancé. You can't have em, game over."

Teddy looked at Rayna puzzled as Deacon's words punched him in the gut. She was marrying him. The man who had broken her more times than he could recall and the one she had tried so desperately to get away from. She was going to marry Deacon and not him. "Your what?" He looked at Rayna hurt.

"My fiancé. We are gettin married." Deacon looked at her hand, "You took your ring off? Seriously?!"

Rayna sighed, "I told you last week I was taking it to the jewelers to have it re-sized, having Maddie made my fingers swell." She looked down, "I called Teddy to tell him about all of this. About us."

"Well he just made himself at home."

Rayna shook her head at Deacon and wrapped her arms around her chest. He had always been the jealous type but there was something about Teddy Conrad that made his blood boil and Rayna knew it. "I'll walk you out." She muttered to Teddy and walked with him to the front door. "I'm really sorry, but I am going to marry Deacon, we're going to try and make this work."

"Why Rayna? You swore you were done with him for Maddie's sake. How many times are you gonna let him destroy you and then come crawling back and begging you to take him back." Teddy looked down,

"This is what's best for Maddie. She deserves to have her parents at least try. Deacon and I can't keep lying to ourselves or to each other when we say we don't want to be with each other. We do. I love him and he loves me, I'm always going to love him despite everything that's happened between him and I. We have a daughter together and we owe it to her to try." She bit her bottom lip, "It wasn't right that we were sleeping together. It was confusing to both of us."

"But i'm in love with you and I'm crazy about her, Rayna." Teddy choked,

Rayna looked at him sadly and tried to fight back the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes. Teddy did love her and he loved Maddie as if she was his own. But she wasn't his and neither was Rayna. "I know." She whispered,

"Rayna, please think about this. You and I, we can make it work. I can give you and her the life you both deserve. I can give you stability."

"I have thought about it. I love him, I've loved him since I was 16 years old and I'm going to love him for the rest of my life." She wiped her eyes, "He's better now and things are going to be different."

Deacon put Maddie in her play pen and walked over to where Teddy and Rayna stood at the front door. "Teddy, this ain't yours and it never was. You don't know what we've fought to get here. Please be happy for us." Deacon tried to set his anger and resentment towards the man who had done nothing for the last two years but to steal Rayna from him aside. He didn't want to be the man that Teddy feared he still was.

"I'll be happy when you treat her the way she deserves to be treated and you make her happy."

"I do treat her right. I always have done my best by her. It ain't always great but I ain't never not loved her."

Teddy snorted, "You have an awful funny way of showing someone you love them."

"I've always done my best. I do have an illness that I will have to get up and battle every day for the rest of my life. But they are my world and this is everythin I've ever wanted. Rayna, my music and a house-full of kids that look just like her."

"Well, I hope it works out for you both then." Teddy leaned forward and kissed Rayna's cheek and left the house before either of them could say another word.

Rayna stood there a little dumbfounded and shocked that neither Teddy or Deacon had beat the living shit out of one another. For as much as they both hated each other, Rayna was relieved at how semi civil they had handled the situation. She turned and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Ray, you shoulda told me he was here." Deacon called after her and followed her into the kitchen.

"He wanted to see Maddie and I didn't feel it was right to tell him about us over the phone."

"It's not his business either way,"

"I never said it was, but damn it Deacon - he cares about her and he cares about me and I was only trying to do the right thing."

"He's sneaky, I don't trust him with you or her."

Rayna rolled her eyes, "I don't want him. I want you, so please don't question that."

"I know and I don't at all." Deacon took her in his arms and hugged her tightly, "I love you so damn much."

Rayna wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest, "I love you too."

They stood there holding one another in the middle of their kitchen for what felt like a lifetime, but they were finding new ways to solve conflict within their relationship - had this conversation happened pre-Maddie, it would have been a full out screaming match for hours, until they ended up just going to bed angry and not speaking until one of them caved and apologized. Deacon finally pulled away and kissed the top of her head,

"I brought you somethin for the weddin"

Deacon spun her around and took an antique diamond necklace out of his pocket and fastened it around her neck. Rayna looked down at the gorgeous necklace and grinned widely,

"Babe, I love it."

"I saw it and thought of you. I can't wait to be married to you. It's all I've wanted since the moment I met you."

Rayna turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned, "It's all I've wanted too. I love you, Deacon John and I can't wait to be your wife and to spend the rest of our days making music and love with one another."

Deacon wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled down at her. Ever since she had moved back in and they had gotten engaged he couldn't wipe the ridiculously stupid grin off of his face every time he looked at her. It amazed him that ever after all the hell that he had put her through, Rayna was still willing to give him a chance. She still loved him far more than he deserved and he would spend the rest of his life thanking God for bringing the beautiful redhead into his life all those years ago and for allowing her to love him unconditionally.

"Well, let's pull the trigger soon. Why wait? We both know we wanna spend the rest of our lives together and I don't wanna wait another day to call you my wife."

"Are you serious? You wanna elope?" Rayna asked him shocked

Deacon nodded his head, "Let's not stress ourselves out over planning a big wedding - when we can do something small. Just the two of us."

"Everyone is going to be expecting us to have a big wedding." She shrugged,

"Marry me, tomorrow." He kissed her forehead softly, "You, me, Maddie."

"Baby, I love you so much but I don't know if it's a good idea for us to just get married tomorrow like that. I feel like you are only wanting to rush it because I just officially ended things with Teddy." Rayna looked up at him,

While the idea of becoming Deacon's wife sooner rather than later excited the redhead. She didn't want them to rush into something that would eventually regret doing. For as long as they had been with one another and for as much as they had talked about what their wedding would look like in the past. Rayna didn't want to rob either of them from that experience.

"Why not?" Deacon questioned and pulled away from her slightly, running his hand through his hair.

"I don't know if we are court house marriage kind of people." She shrugged, "I don't want you to take that as I don't want to be with you or marry you because I do. I want that more than anything. I just think we should talk about it before we just jump."

"And I think we should just do it. I don't wanna wait any longer." He argued. "There's no point. You rather take your ring off and hide it like you're ashamed of us."

Rayna opened her mouth to speak but sighed instead. "That's not true at all, Deacon."

"It sure as hell feels like it." He shook his head,

"I'm not ashamed of us. I love us. The good, the bad and the ugly parts about our relationship. I have never wanted to be anything other than your wife and the mother of your children." She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against his. "I finally get to have that life with you. We get to raise our baby and grow old together, making music."

"Then marry me, baby." Deacon whispered lowly wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'm going to marry you - but not like this. After everything we have been through, we deserve to have this big celebration with all of our friends and family."

Deacon nodded his head slowly. He knew that she was right yet he didn't want to wait to call her his wife. He was ready to take that giant leap and fully move past all of the pain and hurt of his past mistakes for the two of them to start building their life together.

"You're right, we do deserve to have that. Babe, this isn't about anyone else, it's about you, me and Maddie. It's about giving our daughter the family dynamic that she should have always had. Please, just think about it." He kissed the top of her head and pulled away to go into the living room to play with Maddie.

"Are you sure?" Tandy asked

Rayna nodded her head and took a sip of her water before cutting another piece of chicken up for Maddie. "I'm sure, Deacon wants to get married right now - but I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, I want to marry him. But I want to wait. We need to wait." She paused again and watched Maddie eat her chicken and fries and dance around in the wooden high chair from the restaurant.

"Why's he in such a rush?"

Rayna shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly? I think it's just a knee jerk reaction. How many times have I come back and then left again because I felt like nothing had truly changed. Once we're married - it won't be so easy for me to do that."

"Do you want to get married? It's ok if you don't. No on is going to love you any less if you decide that you don't want to marry Deacon."

"Of course I want to get married and of course I want to marry him. His wife is all I have ever wanted to be, Tandy. I want to make sure it's the right time and the right decision for us right now is all." She sighed and leaned back in the hard wooden chair and twisted the ring on her left hand. "I love him,"

Tandy sighed and watched her younger sister from across the table. She had very rarely seen Rayna this indecisive about something regarding Deacon Claybourne a handful of times in their relationship. Once when she found out she was pregnant and Rayna was certain that the baby was Deacon's and not Teddy's. Tandy for sure thought Rayna would finally come to her senses and leave Deacon alone considering she had just put him in rehab for the 5th time after she found out that she was pregnant.

"If this is all you've ever wanted to be, then go for it babe. You can't let the past hinder you from having the life that the two of you have always wanted to have with one another."

Rayna looked up from her lap and over at her sister. There were two people who had never been a fan of Deacon — Tandy and Lamar. She wasn't sure why she was being so nice and encouraging her to do the one thing that Rayna had talked about doing since she was 17 years old.

"Why are all of a sudden being so nice about Deacon? I thought you hated him."

"I don't hate him. I don't always like him, but I want you to be happy - if Deacon makes you happy - then so be it." Tandy shrugged and sipped her wine. "Plus you two make damn cute babies."

If there was one thing that Rayna was not expecting that day it was for her sister to finally accept the fact that Deacon was the guy that Rayna wanted. Despite all of the things the pair had put each other through, he was still the one her heart belonged to. Sure she had entertained the thought of being with someone else and cutting Deacon loose, but she was only fooling herself and everyone else thinking that she could ever get over the man who stole her heart at the young age of 16.

"We do make pretty cute babies." Rayna smiled and leaned over and kissed Maddie's forehead as the little girl continued to eat. "He makes me so happy and I know that things are different this time. He's not drinking. He hasn't drank since he found out that Maddie was his. I feel really good about it sticking this time around."

"Then why are you questioning it?" Tandy asked

Rayna shrugged and looked down at the table for a moment. Tandy took notice in how her kid sisters demeanor changed and reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You're scared."

"Tandy, I love him more than I have ever loved anyone else before aside from Maddie and the way that I feel about him and the amount of love I have for that man - scares the hell out of me. I don't know why but it does. I want a life with this man. I want to raise this baby up together and I want five more of his babies…I love him that much. I would do literally anything for him and I know he would do anything and everything for me."

"It's natural to be scared. If it wasn't meant to be then you wouldn't be as terrified as you are right now." She reassured her,

"Anything worth having is worth the risk," Rayna spoke one of their mother's favorite pep talk lines whenever one of the girls was feeling down about something

Tandy smiled and gave Rayna's hand another tight squeeze and nodded her head in agreement with her little sisters last comment.

"I guess I just need to stop being so stubborn and scared about all of the things that could go wrong and start planning this thing." Rayna replied as she lifted Maddie out of her high chair and kissed the top of her head. "If I keep waiting for proof that things will be different then I'll never be ready to do it. He's already stayed sober and continued working his program longer than he ever did all of the other times."

"I'm happy for you, babe. You are just a little stubborn sometimes but considering everything that the two of you have gone through with one another. It's understandable that you would be a little hesitant to actually pull the trigger on getting married - both of you." She paused, "It's time to forgive and move on with your lives. Time to be a family with this sweet girl. You both deserve that, Rayna."

Rayna couldn't help but tear up at her sister's sweet words of encouragement. Ever since their mother had passed away, Tandy had always been there whenever Rayna needed someone to talk to about things that she was going through and for that Rayna was eternally grateful to have her. She smiled at her and gave Tandy's hand a tight squeeze.

"We do deserve it and we are going to finally get it right this time." Rayna beamed proudly


End file.
